As the old adage goes, failing to prepare, is preparing to fail. But how do you prepare for something as catastrophic as a natural disaster?

Scott Winter helps people, teams and organisations to struggle more effectively and step into their greatness. He’s done so for communities in California to recover from the devastation of wildfires, as well as countless others, showing up with life-affirming purpose, humanity and presence as a facilitator, to re-mould stress into hardy resilience for the future.

In this brilliant and vulnerable conversation, he shares his work in co-regulating mindsets, how to make it easy to talk about difficult things, and why with the right tools, every experience can be turned into a learning opportunity.

Find out about:

• How to create safe spaces that address high-stress situations with rationality
• The three Rs of resilience: Readiness, Response, and Recovery
• The art and science of asking questions
• Learn about the Red Zone, Green Zone, Pink Zone framework
• Difficultating: how to facilitate difficult conversations
• How to mindfully embrace triggers in others
• The importance of asking: what do we not want to take into the room?

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Scott Winter:

LinkedIn

Website

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👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

The relationships in our life are a lot like gardens: they need watering, a little pruning here and there, some de-weeding, and a whole lot of love! But what about the people we spend most of our time with?

Our co-workers are often overlooked in the garden of relationships, but it’s one that requires just as much time, care and attention as any other. Enter: the biggest mischief maker, Emily Hinks!

Firm in the belief that the world of work could do with more joy, she helps people to connect, collaborate and create company cultures to be proud of, in playful and energising ways. She generously shares her mischievous ways with us, her experience with the likes of Netflix, and how she facilitates richer human connection in the new era of work.

Press play and spend a joyful hour with Emily!

Find out about:

• The ROI of human connection at work and its role in building company culture
• The importance of connecting teams to company values in contextual ways
• Why the post-pandemic workplace needs facilitation to nurture digital connections
• How to host meetings more effectively as a non-facilitator
• Emily’s small but mighty hacks for elevating every voice in a meeting

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Emily Hinks:

LinkedIn

Website

www.emilyhinks.com
www.mischiefmakers.com
www.routesin.com

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

In the autumn of 1996 in Palo Alto, Dan Newman had a career-defining epiphany: facilitation is playing other people’s games with your own rules. It’s something that has stayed with him on his journey from consultant to facilitator, as he solves complex organisational problems by asking: how are their rules preventing them from winning?

We cover a lot of ground from Dan’s storied career in this brilliant conversation, dancing from the debate of the neutral facilitator, to cultural communication traits, the psychology of music, and why he will happily fine his clients for breaking the rules!

Full to the brim with facilitation lessons to learn, try and apply yourself.

Find out about:

• Tips, insights and anecdotes from Dan’s nearly 30 year career
• The key differences between the role of the facilitator and the consultant
• How to rebuild people’s ‘finite games’ into ‘infinite games’, with a positive-sum outcome
• How to use Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework to aid decision-making and de-complexify problems
• How to take a company out of their culture to see new perspectives

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Links:

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Dan’s Book

Connect to Dan Newman:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

We are all bodily beings. You do not have a body, you are your wise, sense-making, intuitive, feeling body! And yet, modernity has found itself in a disembodied state; we live in the mind and merely exist in a body.

Mark Walsh, the embodiment anti-guru, is here to reconnect the mind-body divide and bring us back home. He’s trained local NGOs in conflict zones, taught meditation to soldiers, and even has a black belt in aikido, helping organisations and coaches to work with the body to rediscover its intelligence. 

It’s a delight to share Mark’s beautiful and vital work with you all - join us for an hour of embodied wisdom, neuroscience and powerful facilitation tips - free from woo-woo. 

Find out about:

• What embodiment is and how we can relearn it
• How to integrate embodiment practices into facilitation, for a richer experience
• The role of Aikido in peacebuilding, trauma work and facilitation
• Learn about the practical state regulation technique of ‘centring’
• How we can read a room through an embodied assessment
• Why we need to use more exact language for terms like ‘energy’ and ‘holding space

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Top 12 Embodiment Coaching Techniques

Connect to Mark Walsh:

LinkedIn

Website

Instagram

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

As my guest this week will tell you: to avoid a difficult conversation, is to choose the path of least resistance. But when leaders choose the easy way out? Nothing good ever comes from it; only rising frustrations, anxieties, and eventually, resignations.

Luckily for us, Paul Falcone has had every difficult conversation in the book - and he’s written 17 of them! A three-decade career in HR, a stint as a Universal Studios tour guide grappling with grumpy guests, and now a workplace leadership consultant, Paul has learnt to master workplace friction with grace, empathy and a helping of storytelling. The secret? Facilitation, of course!

Find out how to become a more vulnerable, self-aware manager, why we must reframe resistance, and the art of leading with an iron fist and a velvet glove.

Find out about:

• How to approach confrontation with empathy, encouragement and motivation
• Why mindset, skillset and self-care are vital for effective leadership
• How to handle difficult managers through considered, non-violent communication
• The importance of building your front-line leadership muscle
• The ROI of raising your team’s awareness

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Paul Falcone:

LinkedIn 

Website

Amazon Author Page

HarperCollins Leadership Author Page

YouTube Channel

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

Every leader has it in them to be a coach, if only they could stay curious a little longer. This was something Michael Bungay Stanier learnt early on as a youth crisis telephone hotline operator: the first answer is rarely the only answer.

Better known for penning the #1 bestseller The Coaching Habit, a book that has found its way into the lives of over 1 million people, Michael’s coaching work is deeply considered, with a reverence for the gloriously messy complexities of human behaviour. It’s a delicate dance of presence, in and out of the spotlight, and thoughtful manipulation to get the best out of people.

It was a real treat to talk to Michael this week! Episode 280 is full to the brim with wisdoms, tips, tricks and anecdotes from the coaching king, on how we can all become better leaders.

Find out about:

• How to lead like a coach, helping your team to be more autonomous
• Why leaders should stay curious for longer, holding back on advice
• The body language and actionable tools that you can use to promote group agency
• The power of starting questions with ‘what’ rather than ‘how’
• Relational curiosity: how to stay curious about who people are
• How coaching can help redistributing power and status to others

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Michael Bungay Stanier:

MBS.works

bestpossiblerelationship.com

thecoachinghabit.com

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

Words: they are abundantly, inescapably, everywhere in the world of work. Emails, documents, post-its, briefs, meetings, hushed whispers across the office. So why is it that so many organisations still find themselves on the wrong page from one another?

Ask the multi-talented master of service design thinking, stand-up comedy, theatrical design and psychology-zoology, Adam StJohn Lawrence, and he will tell you that words, actually, get in the way of true collaboration and understanding.

Intrigued? Spend an hour and a half with Adam’s fascinating anecdotes, knowledge and insights to learn how to be a more effective communicator and facilitator - without speaking.

Find out about:

• How to express reality and achieve results in non-verbal ways
• The effectiveness of prototypes over word-based documents
• How to reframe roleplay into a judgement-free, comfortable space
• How to ease corporate clients into more interactive, playful sessions
• The 3 questions to ask for effective projects

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Adam:

LinkedIn

Books and schools: www.tisdd.com

Global Jams: www.globaljams.org

www.cocreationschool.com

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

Over the years, I’ve had many magnificent facilitators in the podcast chair who identify as trainers, and many talented trainers who identify as facilitators. Where does the line blur? Is there a line? Dare I ask, should there be?

We settle it once and for all in this special LinkedIn Live conversation with my NDB Course Faculty! We discuss why Facilitation and Training exist on a spectrum with fluctuating frequencies of knowledge sharing, leadership, emergence and ownership - ultimately both trying to achieve change from differing angles.

Join us for a purist vs freethinker exploration, as we navigate assumptions, challenge definitions, and colour in the Facilitator-Trainer spectrum.

Find out about:

• The key differences between the role of Facilitation and Training
• Why it’s important to consider linguistic distinctions and nuances when defining terms such as Facilitator and Trainer
• Why facilitators leverage the knowledge in the room, and trainers bridge gaps of knowledge in the room
• The role of emergence in training and how to design workshops that make space for it
• Client expectations: why it’s vital to educate clients on the difference between the two roles
• Where leadership exists in the spectrum of training and facilitation

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

Imagine a landscape. Perhaps a snow-capped mountain top, studded with pine trees and whispers of clouds. Maybe a bird flutters past. Are there people there, or are you alone with the birds?

If only daydreaming from your desk was seen as something to be revered - encouraged even, free from judgement. Well, Mike Parker is here to tell you why it should be! For when we let our minds wander from our day, it can be a potent balm for burnout, stress, and anxiety, and a cure for creative blockages.

In this week’s beautiful and deeply fascinating episode, Mike introduces us to the power of deliberate daydreaming, metaphor mapping, liminal coaching and guided relaxation. I hope it carves out an hour of calming creativity for you to let your mind wander fully and freely.

Find out about:

• The work of Mike’s Liminal Coaching, inspired by solutions-focused hypnotherapy
• What metaphor mapping is and why it can help us recognise and reframe problems
• The power of calming the parasympathetic nervous system through liminal pomodoro technique
• Why guided relaxations offer neurodivergent people a less restrictive outlet than meditation
• The serotonin-inducing power of recalling pleasurable moments
• The importance of recognising intrinsic, oppressive frameworks in impacting the burnout of minority groups

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Mike Parker:

LinkedIn

Liminal Coaching

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈 

Everyone wants to feel like they belong - to places, purpose and people. But how many workplaces can say that they are truly inclusive and anti-racist places that people choose to belong?

That is where Letesia Gibson comes in. As a navigator of systemic world views on issues such as race and misogyny, her work exists in the sphere of unlearning, helping organisations to rebuild themselves as places of belonging - for everyone.

Letesia introduces us to a new language with which to embrace the intricacies of honest conversations, the tools to embed habits of belonging, and how we can start changing the narrative of the norm.

Find out about:

• The work of Letesia’s behaviour change agency New Ways, and their approach to building inclusive, anti-racist workplaces
• How to recognise and navigate the role of shame in organizations
• How to embed habits of belonging in organisations
• The importance of understanding our triggers, to move from shame to acceptance
• How we can design workshops that consider the many nuances of inclusivity
• The importance of having a shared language and toolkit to initiate organisational change

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Letesia Gibson:

LinkedIn

New Ways

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈